Three generations of women in the Ferrari family must heal the broken pieces of their lives on a trip of a lifetime through picturesque Italy from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst Workaholic, career-obsessed Francesca is fiercely independent and successful in all areas of her life except one: family. She struggles to make time for her relationship with her teenage daughter, … her teenage daughter, Allegra, and the two have become practically strangers to each other. When Allegra hangs out with a new crowd and is arrested for drug possession, Francesca gives in to her mother’s wish that they take one epic summer vacation to trace their family roots in Italy. She just never expected to face a choice that might change the course of her life. . .
Allegra wants to make her grandmother happy, but she hates the idea of forced time with her mother and vows to fight every step of the ridiculous tour, until a young man on the verge of priesthood begins to show her the power of acceptance, healing, and the heartbreaking complications of love.
Sophia knows her girls are in trouble. A summer filled with the possibility for change is what they all desperately need. Among the ruins of ancient Rome, the small churches of Assisi, and the rolling hills of Tuscany, Sophia hopes to show her girls that the bonds of family are everything, and to remind them that they can always lean on one another, before it’s too late.
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I love Jen Probst’s storytelling and this book did not disappoint! Highly recommended for those who love deeply emotional stories.
If you have wanderlust as I do, this is a great pandemic read and also a terrific grandmother/mother/daughter story. I enjoyed immensely.
A generational story -old from the perspectives of Mother Daughter and Grandmother-
Its on target with how three women can live together yet miss so much that is significant and relevant to their lives and their choices. Having experienced the same first hand -with family secrets -I can truly relate .I am sure we have all felt it would be wonderful to revisit family members and have answers to their stories that were left incomplete. There are some very unique situations in this book that give pause for serious reflection-and I choose not to be a spoiler-so take the journey -to Italy -yourself-
Audible listen. I really enjoyed the three generations of women and their stories. All so different in personality and life issues. Mother daughter healings are involved. The trip to Italy was wonderful and of course, a little romance for the ladies. Great narrators!
**Books trip to Italy**
Loved taking this journey with the Ferrari women! Our Italian Summer is a beautiful, heartwarming must-read!
4.85 Stars
This is the story of three ladies.
Grandma Sophia. Daughter Francesca. And her daughter Allegra.
75, 48 & almost 18 years old.
Francesca is a very busy and successful owner of an ad company. Way too busy to ever make it to any of her daughter’s sports events. That’s why the girl spends most of her time with grandma.
But now grandma wants all three of them to go to Italy for the summer. It might be Sophia’s last summer – she’s afraid she’s really sick – too afraid to go to a doctor.
But the girls don’t want to leave for the whole summer. Francesca is too busy at work and Allegra was planning on going on a road trip with some new friends.
But due to some events in Allegra & Frannie’s lives, it’s decided that it’s high time for a vacation!
Off to Italy we go … to find ourselves, to learn about love and life and forgiveness and so much more …
WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH OUR THREE GIRLS?
WILL THERE BE A HEA??
READ THE BOOK TO FIND OUT
I really enjoyed reading this.
I was afraid I wasn’t going to like it. It sounded like too much Women’s Fiction for my tastes – I’m more of a sexy or funny romance person.
But it was so good! Sweet, sad, heartbreaking.
But also so full of love and hope and family and food and Italy and we even get some Romance.
I just adored those three women. All three are not really happy in their lives. They’re all a bit lost. Francesca seems to only live for her job. Allegra seems to live to hate her mom. Or rather resent her for never being there and for dismissing all her dreams and wishes for the future. And grandma just wants everybody to be happy and at peace with each other.
And all that resentment and anger and love is happening on this beautiful Italy trip. We hear so much about the places and art and food and also … a tiny bit too much about religion for my tastes. But still. I loved reading this.
I just adored the tour guide Enzo! And Irish Ian and the other co-travelers. Such a great cast of people!
I really want to see this on Netflix one day. Like a Love, Eat, Pray meets Jamie Oliver cooking in Italy thing – lol!
OUR ITALIAN SUMMER was such a beautiful & emotional story about three women fighting for their hopes and dreams and family and future on a beautiful trip through Italy with all its amazing food and art. I just adored it – I loved that they took me on that trip with them. Just beautiful!
Our Italian Summer was my most anticipated book for 2021, and it didn’t disappoint. Jennifer Probst takes us along on a journey to Italy, and what a journey it is; she introduced us to the Ferrari women, three generations; Sophia, Francesca, and Allegra. Each one carrying their own weight on their shoulders. Sophia lost her parents when she was only 15 years old and went to live with the neighbor next door who had a son around Sophia’s age; both her parents were from Naples. So the trip was significant for her to reconnect to her past and help her daughter Francesca reconnect to her daughter, Allegra.
This book touched my soul. It made me appreciate the special trip I’d taken with my own mother to England & Scotland, seeing the place where her ancestors were from. Once your parents pass, it makes you wonder about everything you didn’t know and wished that you spent more time getting to know the people who created you, raised you, and answer so many questions. Now I’m looking forward to going to see where my father was born. It might be a few years, but it is going to be epic! When you read this story, I hope that your connection will bring you closer to your own ancestors and take you on your own journey.
“Life is too short to skip the fries.”
4.5 Stars
A spectacular story…
Three generations of women who love each other dearly yet don’t always see eye to eye. Francesca- a workaholic who hardly has time for herself yet alone her family. Allegra who is in those pivotal years between teenager and adult trying to figure out who she is and what she wants in life. She knows she doesn’t wanna be like her mother. Sophia hates seeing her girls suffer and yet holds a secret of her own. She knows she must take action before it’s too late and her family falls apart. The trip of a lifetime. A tour of Italy. Each of the women agree to go but each with a different reason why. Little did they know their lives would change so much in one short month.
Through beautiful cities, amazing food, breathtaking churches, small villages and a handful of extraordinary people three women, three generations found a way to come together. To solidify a bond that was deeper than they realize they had. Yes, there were some rocky moments and ugly words were uttered yet they each found a part of themselves through their Italian Summer journey. Something life changing that allowed each of them to get outside of their own heads and figure out something deep within themselves. In the process it allowed a grandmother, a mother and a daughter to bond in a way that would not have seemed feasible just weeks prior.
I loved Our Italian Summer. A fantastic story of family, love and adventure. Learning to let go and being willing to take a chance. Knowing it ok to have some fun and it’s ok to shed tears when needed. Jennifer Probst hits you in all the right spots with Our Italian Summer. It was not just a story, but a journey that me completely rooting for these women to find their happiness.
I am learning Italian and planning a trip to that awe-inspiring country, so the descriptions of the locales, hotels, and historical venues were of great interest to me. I devoured this book far too quickly. I plan to read it again in a few weeks. The characters are sharply defined and interesting.
Loved this book! It was a mini tour of Italy.
It’s very good in showing family relationships and their difficulties and working to improve them. I also learned that international group tours can be done well.
Lovely travel descriptions of Italy
Probst has given us an escape to Italy via the pages of her novel. It’s a slightly different turn for her with this genre, but she’s managed to pull it off brilliantly. There is intrigue, family relationships, and a new path yet unexplored. Take a delightful walk with the sisters in this book and get lost in their story.
The story is so well written, I just wanted it to continue. One can relate to at least one of the three main characters. Sophia is the mother / grandmother who sees her small family falling apart. Franny her daughter is so career driven, she is neglecting her soon to be 18 year old daughter. Allegra is trying to figure out life and is resentful of her workaholic mother.
Sophia decides they all need to go and reconnect with one another.
There is many arguments, tough choices to make, secrets to reveal and lost love to rediscover. Tears are shed theirs and my, have tissues nearby. The description of the surrounding and sites of interest will take you away to Italy. Well done.
I finished reading Our Italian Summer by Jennifer Probst, and as I took in the last page I viewed it with an enormous hunger for more.
This is a story of three women – Francesca, Allegra, and Sophia, three generations of the Ferrari family. Francesca is a workaholic. Allegra feels snubbed and ignored by her mother. And Sophia, who’s felt the tension and pressure by her daughter and granddaughter, desperately wants the family to reunite before it’s too late.
A trip to Italy, to their roots, hopes to be a restorative tonic. But family relationships run deep, especially troubled ones. Jennifer Probst doesn’t just shine with exotic locations. She excels in bringing out the underpinnings of human drama. Through her lovely writing we see the ugly mistakes and misunderstandings of each of the characters – their dirty underwear on display – and how those false beliefs and patterns have torn the fabric that holds the family together.
The characters – main and supporting – are whole, human, flawed, and wonderful. You pray for them, cheer for them, hope for them as they flounder, find their footing, flounder some more. And the grand tapestry that is Italy. Bellissima! The descriptions, the locations, the food – it’s mouth watering.
Our Italian Summer will draw you in surely and completely. I dare you not to fall in love.
ARC for honest review with no compensation received from NetGalley 4.5 stars
Our Italian Summer by Jennifer Probst is about three generations of women, mother, daughter and granddaughter taking a trip to Italy where they rediscover what has been missing in their relationships, connecting as a family, healing those relationships and finding what has been missing … love!
Well, you know I’m a die-hard Jennifer Probst fan and would happily read her grocery lists. So it should come as no surprise that I loved her latest book, Our Italian Summer. While I love romance books and have read all of Ms. Probst’s romances, my go to reads are women’s fiction, so I was thrilled to get my hands on her first foray into the genre.
The story centers around three generations of women in the same family who take a summer trip to Italy to explore their Italian heritage. While there is romance in the book, the main plot focuses around the relationships between the women—a grandmother, a mother, and an 18-year-old daughter. I loved the drama and the ups and downs between the three of them as they toured Italy.
I also loved the vividly detailed descriptions of Italy. My family and I had planned a trip to Italy this summer, but with the pandemic, it’s been put on the back burner. So reading Our Italian Summer was a nice hold-me-over until I get to see it for myself! And now I’m waiting for the next Jennifer Probst book!
This was a lovely novel about 3 generations of woman and the relationship between them.
They’ve decided to take a trip to Italy for the summer, all for different reasons.
Francesca has a very successful business and is a workaholic. She puts her job first, instead of her daughter, Allegra. She’s missed so much of Allegras teen years, that Allegra has become resentful.
She doesn’t have much of a relationship with her mother but she adores her relationship with her grandmother, Sophia, as she has pretty much raised Allegra while Francesca established her business.
Allegra gets in trouble with the law, and the trip to Italy that Sophia has been pestering Francesca about for a few months, finally becomes a reality.
What I really liked was that the story is told from the 3 different viewpoints of each generation and their struggles, triumphs and what they each were going through and learning and growing.
This was my first book by Jennifer Probst and it will definitely not be my last. She has a beautiful way of weaving each story together yet keeping them separated.
Beautiful read, I definitely recommend it!
They say that reading is one of the cheapest ways to travel. With Our Italian Summer you can escape to Italy and experience a fabulous trip to the other side of the world with its vivid imagery and delicious food descriptions that will have the reader craving the real thing.
This character driven story about a three generations of Ferrari women is easy to read with the very relateable and charming ladies who travel to trace their family roots and reconnect with each other.
Told from Francesca, Allegra and Sofia’s perspective, this moving story about family, forgiveness and second chance Is heartwarmingly uplifting.